


The Blood Moon Incident

by Secretlysheikah



Series: Looming Shadows [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Battle, Blood and Injury, Blood moon, Brotherly Bonding, Canon-Typical Violence, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Nightmares, Other, Violence, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, kind of panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27499813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secretlysheikah/pseuds/Secretlysheikah
Summary: WIld is having a crisis, and the group discovers just what happens during a blood moon.
Relationships: Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Series: Looming Shadows [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100867
Comments: 9
Kudos: 299





	The Blood Moon Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is the first Fic I have ever written. I haven't looked at it in months, so lets hope it's not too bad.

Wild was used to being on his own. Deep down he knew he deserved every lonely night, every new battle wound, every near death experience. He wasn’t used to fighting in a group either which didn’t help. Maybe that was why he was so reckless still, that’s what he told himself anyways.

Wild was always launching in head first in every encounter with the various monsters that had begun to crop up in their travels across the different eras of Hyrule. Needless to say he was a wild card and all the other Links quickly found out about his apparent death wish and Wild was regularly told off for it.

It’s not like he didn’t care, he did cared a great deal, but there was always something driving him forward into harms way. There was small part of him that liked the feeling of chaos that sang through his veins as he leapt into the fray heedless of the possible injuries he might receive for his foolishness. There was even a smaller, darker part of him that hoped he would get hurt, he deserved it after all.

“You need to be more careful Cub” Twilight admonished as he wrapped up Wild’s arm with a bandage. Wild had bowed to his instincts once again, throwing himself head long into a fight headless of the others calls.

It all started as the group had been making their way through Wild’s Hyrule, they heard the sound of fighting and cries for help in the distance. Without a second of thought Wild had split from the group and ran right into a fight between a pair of travelers and small group of bokoblins. He managed to kill the first bokoblin that was about to strike one of the travelers down, a few swipes with his sword and the creature was no more. However he was caught off guard by the second bokoblin as it launched itself at him from the side and knocked him off his feet. The pair had began to grapple on the ground, the bokoblin gaining the upper hand as it pinned him to the dirt. The beast had tried to force the blade into Wild’s chest. Wild had blocked it with his arm and was almost about to force the creature off when Time had come hurtling in tackling, the bokoblin and killing it. Wild was left panting on the ground, arm bleeding while listening to the others finishing off the last of the beasts around him.

“I know I need to be more careful, but I didn’t really have a choice, those bokoblins were about to kill those people” Wild groused and gritted his teeth as Twilight tugged on the bandage harder then he thought was necessary. Wild made a point of not saying anything and continued to look at the other heroes as they chatted amongst themselves. Although he looked away quickly when he saw Time look over. He didn’t want to see his glare of disapproval when he already knew he was up for a lecture… again. 

“I just don’t understand why, why do you keep throwing yourself into these situations?” Twilight sighed but Wild only shrugged, none of them could really understand and Wild didn’t know how to properly explain either which just frustrated him more. 

“I couldn’t just stand there and wait, I couldn’t…” Wild started and then let out a frustrated sigh. Twilight looked at him quizzically tilting his head and nudging him gently to continue. Wild just shook his head and stood up. There was nothing he could say right now. His mind was already treading down a path he was all too familiar with.

‘Maybe I’ll find the words later’ he thought to himself and walked back to the group. He heard Twilight stand up as well, trotting after him and making a noise like he wanted to continue the conversation but was cut off by Legend.

“Well look who it is! It’s our little savage beast! How are you doing?” Wild just shrugged and forced a smile fiddling with the bandage on his arm.

“I’m doing alright, got my arm patched up” to prove it he lifted his arm with the pristine bandage on it, though it looked like it was already starting to spot through with blood. The healing potion was not quite strong enough to heal the gash quickly but it would do.

Legend rolled his eyes “you think you’re ever gonna stop trying to get yourself killed?” He quipped “I know Warriors is annoying but that’s no reason to end it all” there was a cry of protest from across the group and Wild winced a little and gave a chuckle and a noncommittal shrug.

He felt a hand come down on his shoulder and Wild tensed with the sudden contact. He looked up to see Time standing next to him. Legend’s eyes went large and he quickly spun on his heels and walked away swiftly when he saw the thunderous look on Time’s face. ‘Here we go’ Wild thought in defeat as he was lead a little ways away from the group.

“What on earth were you thinking? You could have been killed! Why didn’t you wait for the rest of us?” Time scolded as he poked his finger at Wild’s chest. Wild couldn’t look at him, the fury in his words enough to make him mute with anger and shame. “Well?” Time prodded waiting for his response.

“I wasn’t thinking” he lied and looked at the ground hot eyed and fuming.

“That’s a lie and I know it.” Time continued still angry but trying his level best to swallow his fury. The truth was watching Wild get pinned down by that beast chilled Time to his core. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he wasn’t fast enough to save him. Maybe that’s why he felt so angry.

“Fine, you want the truth? Here’s the truth” Wild began a sudden swell of anger making him bold.

“I didn’t want to wait, if I would have waited those people would have died and I won’t have that. Not while I’m able to save them, and certainly not on someone else’s time frame.” Wild hissed, looking at Time straight in the eyes, his body trembling as if he was about to throw a punch.

“I stepped in to do my Goddess damned job and if that’s not what you want to hear than that’s too bad” Wild all but yelled, and all at once angry tears threatened to spill.

Time blinked at him. That was most Wild had ever said in one sitting, and the pure rage that came from him was enough to stop Time in his tracks. Wild was usually calmer and easy going. He acknowledging his reckless acts as reckless and then moved past it with a easy apology and the promise to be better in the future. Which to Wild’s credit was true, he was adapting to fighting with a group very well, picking up on the other’s fighting styles and adapting his own style based on what was necessary for a given fight. He was still reckless at times but it was to be expected given the environment Wild had to work in. Time’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he found his words.

“But that doesn’t, but that won’t” he tried and failed to get the words out, but he found he lost his train of thought in the face of Wild’s unusual rage. In any case Wild was too angry to let him continue.

“I already failed these people once, and as long as I breathe I won’t let it happen again. So if you have a problem with that then feel free to.. to…” Wild gave a cry of frustration and threw his hands up. Clearly too mad to think properly. Wild knew it wasn’t Time he was truly angry at, not really. But with the mist of rage clouding his thoughts he couldn’t see a safe way out of the conversation without saying something he would truly regret. He had to get away, had to clear his head before he did something stupid.

“I’m going to scout ahead” Wild growled.

“We decided to camp for the night, it’s getting dark and there’s no point to stumbling around the woods” Time said not knowing how to properly respond to Wild’s outburst.

“Then I’m going to patrol the area, I’ll be back later” Wild hissed and spun around and stalked off into the trees leaving a concerned group of heroes to look on after him.

“What was that about?” Twilight asked when Time made his way back to the group. Time shook his head trying to get his thoughts in order and motioned Twilight to follow him away from curious ears. Twilight’s concerned deepened as he followed his mentor to the edge of the clearing.

“Something is up with cub, that was the angriest I have ever seen him.” Time started and Twilight hummed in agreement. He and much of the others had heard part of the argument earlier but didn’t have enough information to really understand what had transpired. But Twilight could agree that Wild’s outburst was out of character for the newest hero. Wild tended to be more pensive, usually sinking into himself and his thoughts while clamming up and not talking to anyone for a while.

“That is odd, Usually we would see that kind of rage coming from Legend, but from cub? You’re right something is up. Do you think I should go talk to him?” Twilight asked and Time hummed in thought eventually coming to a decision.

“That might be for the best, even if you don’t talk to him I don’t think it would be a bad idea to keep an eye on him” Twilight nodded and looked around to the milling crowd of nosey heroes. Time glanced over to them as well before placing a hand on Twilight’s arm.

“You go, I’ll get these guys working on setting up camp for the night. Don’t lose track of our wayward champion” Time said patting his arm before heading back to the group to field questions and to get camp set up.

“Shouldn’t someone go out with him? Make sure he’s safe?” Wind asked quietly. Time only shook his head.

“Twilight is going to and make sure nothing happens to him. While he does that we’re going to set up for the night. It’s going to be dark before we know it” Time said and began dividing up the work amongst the remaining six hero’s. Time gazed into the woods then thoughts heavy on his mind.

*************************************************

Wild didn’t know how long he’d been out at this point but he knows it was a while. His rage had him stomping through the under brush slashing his sword left and right as he cut through underbrush that was in his way. Then slowly his anger sifted away leaving darker thoughts behind to occupy his mind. Soon he was just walking through the forest not processing anything but his own black thoughts that made him feel small and alone. Then he just stopped where he was, and plopped down under a large tree and curled up on himself. He pulled his knees to his chest and put his head down and tried to control his breathing but it was proving difficult under the weight of his suffocating thoughts. He had to get himself under control again, but it was hard. His mind was just a boiling pot of self hatred and hopelessness. His body ached, his arm throbbed and his soul for all the turmoil he felt swirling inside was somehow painfully hollow.

Just as he was about to submit to his own melancholy he heard rustling. His head shot up his body lurching to a standing position, his hand flew to his sword and drew his blade. His breath quickened as he looked around. When did it get so dark? Then another rustle and a voice came from the darkness ahead of him.

“Hey, hey it’s just me cub.” Twilight called out as he appeared from the underbrush hands held in front of him in submission. Wild let out a shaky breath and sheathed his sword again.

“I was just looking for you, you’ve been gone for a little while” Twilight said soothingly. It was a half lie, he’d been following him for a couple hours as Wild circled the camp in ever largening circles. Twilight had followed quietly not wanting to disturb him If he didn’t have to. But seeing him curl up on himself like that had set off alarm bells in his mind and he couldn’t just sit idly by and watch his friend suffer alone. Wild nodded and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. He looked tired. Twilight motioned for him to sit and went to sit next to him.

“So what happened back there? I have never seen you that angry before” Twilight asked plucking up a stick from the ground and began to idly pull the bark off of it. Wild winced a little at the memory and sighed.

“I'm sorry, I don’t know what happened. One minute I was getting ready to eat crow and then the next…” Wild trailed off hands gesturing weakly in front of him. Twilight nodded but said nothing waiting for him to continue.

“Time was just so mad, yelling at me about throwing myself into danger. But he doesn’t understand. He can’t understand.” Wild said with a hitch in his voice. Twilight looked at him then, eyes full of concern.

“What do you mean he couldn’t understand? He’s usually pretty good with that kind of thing” Twilight said trying to get the other boy to open up more. Wild only grunted and rubbed his eyes again. A motion that Twilight had begin to attribute to Wild when he was about to stop talking. Twilight nudged him then motioning Wild to continue his thought. Wild gave a shaky sigh and looked into the dark woods.

“I failed, and because of that, the Hyrule I knew was destroyed, my friends the other champions were killed and…” Wild gave a half strangled cry and worked his fists into his eyes trying to force the tears back with little luck.

“I am the hero that came too late, how can I even look the others in the eye and claim that I’m worthy to stand with them?” Wild whispered head leaning back against the tree staring at the sky through the limbs of the tree letting his tears silently overflow. It was a lovely night Wild thought to himself. The clouds flowed by smoothly and the stars twinkled in the pinkish mood light. Twilight nodded quietly gathering his thoughts seeing as the other was clearly done talking.

“Well, I think you’re wrong.” Twilight said and Wild gave him a withering look and opened his mouth to protest but Twilight cut him off.

“You’re not a hero who failed or came too late. I think you’re being too hard on yourself.” Twilight began, looking at his protégé with a stern look before continuing.

“What happened all those years ago was simply out of your control but you didn’t let that stop you. You fought until you couldn’t anymore and I think that alone makes you a legendary hero” Twilight paused looking at Wild who had slowly relaxed, leaning against the tree with one leg stretched out in front of him. Wild still said nothing and Twilight continued.

“And that isn’t even considering your reappearance and subsequent destruction of Calamity Gannon.” Twilight paused again and looked over to Wild. His eyes blinked rapidly against a shimmer of tears. Twilight smiled at him then and put a hand on Wild’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you don’t deserve that.” Twilight said looking into Wild’s eyes making sure the other heard him and understood.

“And anyways if you keep tearing yourself down like that I promise I won’t be the only one kicking your ass until you stop” Twilight finished and got a wobbly smile out of Wild.

“Fair enough” Wild sighed mopping his face with his bandaged arm.

“I have to apologize to the old man, he didn’t deserve my anger. I feel awful that I tore into him like that. You think he’ll forgive me?” Wild asked and it was Twilights turn to chuckle.

“I think… he’ll be…” Twilight trailed off looking around them curiously. There were little sparkles of red lights floating around them.

“Those are weird looking fire flies.” He commented watching as they seemed to get bigger as the seconds wore on. Wild tensed next to him.

“Oh sweet Hylia no, not a blood moon” Wild whispered as he launched himself to his feet and began to look around frantically at the sparks of light and the quickly reddening sky. Twilight noticing his companion’s agitation stood quickly as well.

“What’s a blood moon? What's happening?” Twilight asked quickly as he followed closely behind Wild as he began to sprint towards the camp.

“Blood moon happens every once in a while and when it does all the monsters that were slain come back into existence.” Wild panted out as he leaped over boulders and darted in between trees.

“It happened more often when calamity Gannon was around, it was Ganon's way of keeping a choke hold on Hyrule. It has been less frequent lately but it still happens and now…” Wild trailed off as they heard shouts of surprise in the distance and the the sound of metal ringing against metal. Wild poured on the speed and Twilight lost sight of his protégé as he zipped around more trees and bushes.

“Wait!” Twilight shouted but it was too late. Wild had shot off into the forest and left him in the dust. There was a sound of a bomb exploding in the distance and shouts of surprise mingled with the sound of monster's battle cries close by. Twilight began to run even faster, trying to find footing in a forest that wasn’t his. He prayed desperately that he would make it in time to help save his friends before it was too late.

*************************************************

There was a lot of things racing through Wild’s mind as he rushed head long towards the camp. One thought that spoke the loudest in his brain was how could he have forgotten to tell the others about the blood moon? He silently cursed himself for letting it slip from his mind. It wasn’t often they ended up in his Hyrule, and through out the months of traveling together they had yet to run into this problem.

But still he mentally chided himself for not mentioning it. The sound of fighting grew louder and as he reached the edge of the camp and his heart nearly stopped as he took in the scene in a matter of seconds.

There were way too many monsters. At most there should have been three bokoblins, mainly the ones they killed that afternoon. However now there appeared to be two black moblins, a couple of red bokoblins and three black bokoblins

Where had the others come from? It didn’t make sense. He saw Hyrule ducking a wild sword swipe from one of the black bokoblins. Legend was at his back shield raised desperately against the other black bokoblin as it swung a heavy Boko bat down at his head.

Time was squaring off against one of the moblins near the far end of the camp. Time’s heavy claymore mid swipe as the creature stumbled back in an attempt to dodge the blow.

Warriors was surrounded by the two red bokoblins slashing at one of the monsters while shielding his other side from the other monster’s attack.

Then his eyes fell on the center of the camp, near the fire Wind was standing over top of a wounded Four, defending him against the last black bokoblin that was trying to run Four threw with it’s spear. That’s when Wild’s eyes snapped to the last monster.

The other moblin was sneaking up behind Wind and Four, obviously seeing an opportunity for an attack. It had it’s dragonbone club raised high for a devastating blow against the back of Four’s head, intent on smashing him flat. This was where Wild was going to launch his attack.

Slate in hand Wild quickly selected a bomb and threw it down just in front of him. Then he grabbed his shield and flipped forward positioning the shield between himself and the bomb. Just as he was about to land he activated the bomb launching himself high into the air and pulled out his bow, Wild felt the world slow to a crawl as he knocked an arrow and aimed at the startled moblin.

Wild loosed the arrow and it landed square in the forehead of the monster throwing it off balance. It’s head rocked back from the force of the blow and black blood sprayed satisfyingly from the wound. Quickly Wild threw his feet forward as he fell planting his feet in the center of the monster’s chest driving it back first, right on to the fire. 

There was a bellow of pain from the moblin as it clutched it’s face and writhed in the fire. Wild skidded to halt and whipped around taking aim once again and shot the black bokoblin in the ear. The force of the arrow sent the bokoblin flying to the side and it flopped on the ground like a puppet with it’s strings cut. The moblin gave a final cry as it exploded in to black smoke leaving a mess of black blood to stain the area where it had been. The black bokoblin twitched and gave a mournful cry and quickly followed suit.

Then suddenly the world slammed back into motion. 

Wind turned quickly and fell to Four’s side looking at his injuries and trying to find out how to help. It looked as though Four had taken a spear thrust to the shoulder. His arm hung limply at his side and his tunic was covered with red. 

“Are you guys okay?” Wild called out to them and Four looked at him with a disgusted look. 

“Yeah, I’m just peachy” He quipped and then cried out as Wind shoved a crumpled up shirt against his shoulder. 

“Dammit! That hurt” Four swore, clutching his shoulder.

“that better not be my shirt you’re using” Four groused and Wind rolled his eyes. 

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s warriors” Wind said as he held pressure to the wound. There was a cry of rage and Wild looked over to warriors who had managed to kill one of the bokoblins and was now facing off against the other. 

“Hey! That’s.. My… Nicer… Tunic!” He yelled over to them each word emphasized by a blow of his sword against the bokoblin’s shield.

Satisfied that Wind and Four were no longer in immediate danger Wild turned his attention to Hyrule and Legend. Hyrule was still dodging the monsters ferocious blows. Wild could see that Hyrule was slowing down, his reaction times barely enough to keep a head of the enraged monster’s sword swipes.

The bokoblin gave a sudden cry and rushed forward sword swiping to the side aiming to decapitate Hyrule. Hyrule stumbled back narrowly avoiding losing his head as the sword slashed across his cheek just below his right eye.

Blood was quick to cover the lower part of Hyrule’s face and he landed hard on his back. Legend cried out about to twist and cover Hyrule with his shield but Wild was quicker. In two quick strides Wild had moved between the bokoblin and Hyrule, Wild’s sword came up and blocked the monster’s sword from landing a final hit.

The bokoblin gave another battle cry is it forced down on it’s blade trying to break the block. Wild gave a grunt of effort and kicked out, hard, foot connecting with the bokoblin’s chest and forcing it back. Wild was breathing heavily now with the exertion and he readied his sword again. The bokoblin bobbed it’s head turning this way and that looking for all the world like it was thinking. Then without preamble it turned and ran off into the forest. There were confused shouts as the battle suddenly changed. The two remaining bokoblins suddenly stopped what they were doing, almost going ridged before they too ran from the camp sight.

“Don’t let them escape! There’s too much risk for another attack” Warriors cried out giving chase to the retreating monsters. Legend nodded and followed quickly having enough time to grab his sword and run out of the camp in hot pursuit.

There was a loud cry then making Wild whip his head to the side to see Time hurtling his way after being struck by the Moblin’s bat. Time collided with Wild throwing them both into a tree. Wild smacked his head hard against the trunk and he could feel blood trickling through his hair and soaking his collar. The world was tilting at odd angles darkness creeping in at the corners. Time was unconscious a bruise already forming across his cheek, his head lolling from side to side as Wild struggled under his weight.

The moblin ran over quickly to the downed pair ignoring the others completely, intent on finishing what it had started. Wild could barely breathe under Time’s weight as he struggled to free himself to defend against the monster. The moblin reached them quickly and raised its bat once again ready to strike.

Seeing no way out, Wild wrapped himself as best he could over top of Time to shield him. There were cries of alarm, the other hero’s were either too slow to react or too injured to move quickly enough to help. Wild braced himself for the blow only to hear a loud snarl from behind him. There was the crash of branches and a wolf came hurtling out from in between the trees, latching onto the arm of the moblin and promptly ripping the arm to shreds forcing the beast to drop the bat.

There was a cry of rage as the wolf landed and shot beneath the behemoth and bit at it's ankles. The monster stumbled around kicking wildly as it tried to stomp on the wolf that was deviling it until there was a twang of a bow string and an arrow appeared in its eye. The moblin gave an angry howl as it fell to the ground too damaged to continue and burst into black smoke and blood, leaving greasy black smear on the ground where it had fallen.

Wild looked around in a semi fogged state as he looked for who shot the arrow, seeing a slightly pale Sky coming from under a tree branch. Sky was still holding his bow, loaded with another arrow as he scanned the camp site looking for more monsters. Seeing none he ran over to the tangled Wild and Time and helped lift the unconscious man off of Wild. Twilight now out of wolf form was quick to follow, first looking over Time to assess his injuries then moving over to Wild to do the same. Hyrule quickly trotted over to lend a hand digging around his pack to find the appropriate healing items.

Hyrule’s face was cleaned up for the most part. He had a bandage soaked with a healing potion placed on the cut under his eye but there was still small smears of blood under his chin from where he missed it with a cloth.

“S’ows the old man?” Wild said and was surprised by the slight slur to he speech. He must have hit against the tree harder than he thought. He still saw black at the edges of his vision and the world still spun slightly. Twilight looked at him, concern lacing his words.

“He’ll be fine cub, he’ll have one hell of a headache when he comes round I’m sure. Hyrule is looking at him now, but I’m a little more worried about you” Twilight fussed looking at the back of Wild’s head and making him follow his finger back and forth with his eyes.

“I’m pretty sure you have a concussion” Twilight said grabbing Wild’s head again to tilt it down and prod at the cut and subsequent bump on the back of his head. Wild hissed in pain and struggled weakly to no avail. Twilight lifted the collar of his tunic and whistled.

“Well that’s one hell of a bruise you got started. How hard did you hit the tree?”

“Hard enough” Wild shrugged and immediately regretted it. He let out a groan and rested his head back against the tree willing for the spinning to stop. He heard Twilight shift beside him and felt Hyrule take his place at his shoulder. There was another minute or two of fussing as Hyrule moved his head this was and that and looked at his pupils, assessing the damage for himself. Wild heard bottles shift as Hyrule dug through his bag to find a potion. There was a satisfied ‘aha’ when Hyrule found what he was looking for and he felt the bottle being forced in to his hand.

“Tell me the truth ‘rule, will I ever play the harp again?” Wild asked as he uncorked the bottle and sipped at the contents with a grimace. There was a confused pause and then a sigh from Twilight as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Did you even know how to play?” Twilight finally asked looking at Wild over his fingers.

“No, but I figured after enough head trauma the skill would finally emerge” Wild smiled around the lip of the bottle watching as his mentor put his face in his hands and sighed.

“You’re going to make me keel over with stress” he moaned and Wild laughed weakly until Hyrule stretched out a hand and smacked him lightly against the back of the head. Wild flinched in pain and rubbed the back of his head reproachfully but said nothing. The gash was healing and he was feeling a lot better. The group jumped when there was a strangled gasp from Time as he went to sit up and was forced back down by Hyrule.

“Don’t sit up by yourself just yet, you got a pretty good smack to your head and you could make yourself sick” Hyrule warned and Time gave a small nod of understanding, allowing Twilight and Hyrule to lift him up and prop him against the tree with Wild. Within minutes he too had a potion and was slowing sipping it. They sat like that for a couple minutes until a disgruntled Warriors and Legend came walking back into camp.

“We lost them in the woods, we're going to have have two people on watch tonight to make sure we don’t get surprised” Warriors said as he dropped down next to the fire looking around at the group. Legend stood by the edge of the camp looking out into the gloom.

“So what happened? I left to get water then all of the sudden I’m hearing yelling and on the way back to help I was nearly knocked over by some bokoblins running away with Warriors and Legend hot on their heels” Sky asked.

“What happened was we were all caught with our metaphorical pants down” Legend fumed and Warriors couldn’t help but agree.

“One moment we were sitting around waiting for you to come back with water for soup and the next the camp was packed with monsters and we were all scrambling to defend ourselves. No weapons, no armor to hand, it was a total shit show” Warriors explained.

“You did miss one hell of an entrance though, Wild came flying in like a bad ass. I’m pretty sure he used a bomb and launched himself into the middle of camp and took out a moblin!” Wind gushed excitedly bobbing up and down as he acted out that part of the story, though he was cut off by Wild who gave a shuddering gasp.

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you all about the blood moon” Wild whispered and the whole group looked over curiously.

“What’s a blood moon?” Sky ventured and Wild closed his eyes and took another shuttering breath attempting to compose his thoughts before explaining his fuck up.

“Blood moon, it happens every once in a while. The sky turns blood red when the moon is full and once slain monsters come back to life. It happened a lot more often before I…” Wild waved his hand in the air lamely before he continued “I think Ganon created the blood moon as a way to keep a hold of Hyrule while he was locked away with…” Wild petered our again not knowing how to continue so he just stared unblinkingly at the fire, waiting for the blow up and he wasn’t disappointed.

“what the fuck, why didn’t you mention this? Don’t you think that’s kind of fucking important?!?” Legend shouted and Wild couldn’t help but flinch. Guilt raked over him and made his gut clench.

“I’m sorry” was all Wild could get out before he was cut off again by Legend.

“You’re sorry? We could have all died! What were you thinking?” Legend was practically foaming at the mouth with rage. Wild could feel himself curling in on himself from the weight of what could have been cutting him to the quick. Shame made him mute and it was all he could do to raise his hands and try to sign out another apology.

“That’s enough, I think you’ve got your point across” Time said placing a hand over top of Wild’s hands forcing them down to stop him from apologizing anymore.

Legend took a few steps back clearly startled at his own outburst and rubbed his eyes. After taking a few deep breaths to try and cool down Legend looked back at Wild still hunched over and he glanced away guiltily noticing there was a tremble in Wild’s hands.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go off on you like that.” Legend muttered and the group was silent for a few minutes each of them processing the night’s events in their own minds.

“It doesn’t make sense” Wild muttered so quietly that even Time barely heard him.

“What was that?” Time questioned and Wild shook his head, a look of worry marring his scarred face.

“The blood moon recovers monsters where they were slain yes, but the one constant there is, is that it’s only the monsters that were slain in a particular spot, nothing extra. There should have only been what, three bokoblins at most? And yes I know that’s still bad.” He said quickly seeing the look on Legend’s face. There was a pregnant pause as everyone digested that bit of information.

“Then what was that? Why were there so many in camp?” Four asked the question that was flitting around everyone mind.

Wild could only shrug, a serious cast falling over his face as he looked around at the group of heroes.

“A rise in monster activity, not to mention the odd behavior, increased strength and the way they acted as though they were following commands. This does not bode well.” Warriors commented, the others nodding their heads in agreement.

“Truly odd indeed, we’ll have to consider our next steps carefully. For now everyone needs rest. Legend and Twilight would you be opposed taking first watch?” Time asked placing the empty bottle down next to him and standing with a stretch. They both shrugged and went to opposite sides of the camp taking up first watch. Everyone else started readying their bed rolls and Time tapped Wild gently on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow. Wild stood stiffly and followed him to an unoccupied part of camp. The noises of the others preparing for sleep became background noise to their discussion.

“Are you okay?” Time asked and Wild looked down and shrugged. Physically he was feeling a lot better, still sore but no longer dizzy although he had the distinct feeling that Time wasn’t asking about that.

“I’ll have none of that, it’s clear to me that you’re not okay” Time admonished gently and Wild had to force himself to look at Time in the eyes.

“I’m not alright, I should have warned you and I failed. I am truly sorry” Wild whispered his voice soft, his throat felt raw and tight. Time only shrugged and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Normally I would accept that answer, but Goddess what were you thinking” Time said gesturing to the others in the group. The shift in tone made Wild’s head snap up, a pang of fear racing through his thoughts.

Time stepped forward menacingly his hand once placed softly on his shoulder squeezing tightly making him cry out.

“Look at the blood on your hands, this was all your fault and all you can say is sorry?” Time scoffed shoving him roughly away making him stagger. Wild looked at his hands now sticky with drying blood. He started to hyperventilate, what was going on? Wild tried in vain to move his feet but found tree roots wrapping around his ankles holding him in place.

“Your failure and negligence could have killed us all” Time thundered out making Wild cover his ears in pain at how loud his voice was.

“Please, I’m sorry” Wild tried to say but was cut off with hysterical laughing. His eyes shot around to look at his traveling companions now all covered in blood, various horrendous wounds marring their skin as they stepped closer now, surrounding the pair. Their pale dead eyes staring as they pointed and accusing finger towards him.

“ you’ve killed us all” Twilight said stepping forward his blade pointed at Wild’s throat. Then they were all pointing their swords at him yelling and berating him for not warning them, for not saving them.

“Maybe the monster we were hunting was you all along, I mean you certainly look the part” Time said almost gently as he reared his sword back and…

Wild gave a strangled cry of alarm breathing heavily, he was vaguely aware of the hand shaking his shoulder and someone talking to him. He shuddered rubbing his face with his hands and felt a cold sweat and tears on his face. After a moment or two a hushed voice infiltrated his terrified stupor making him look around. To his surprise he saw a concerned Legend standing there hand still clasped on his shoulder.

“…Okay? Hello? Can you hear me?” Legend said shaking him gently again. Wild looked around the camp eyes wide as he counted sleeping forms, all present save for Twilight. There were no wounds, no blood just a dying fire and gentle snores. He took a deep breath, held it and let it go slowly before turning to Legend again.

“Wild, you’re scaring me, quit looking at me like you’ve just seen a ghost” Legend said voice soft. Legend always acted tough around the others, often coming across as rude and standoffish, but everyone knew it was just a front. Legend didn’t want to seem weak, even in a group of heroes who had the same spirit flowing through their veins just like him.

“S-sorry, I had a nightmare. I-I don’t even remember falling asleep” Wild stammered, his heart still pounding. Legend nodded his understanding.

“Where’s…” Wild started but legend cut him off

“He went out on a quick patrol, he should be back any minute” Wild nodded again closing his eyes for a minute. He felt Legend drop down next to him apparently deciding to stay close to make sure he was alright.

“When did I fall asleep?” He asked and Legend hummed in thought.

“Well you were explaining the blood moon, about how there shouldn’t have been that many monsters in camp. Then you kinda just drifted off. We figured it was thanks to the healing potion and the long day you had” Wild hummed in contemplation, he didn’t remember feeling tired, the transition from wakefulness to asleep was so smooth.

“Hey, I just wanted to apologize again. I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. We’ve all been stressed lately and I guess it just boiled over” Legend said quietly, avoiding The look Wild gave him. Wild stared at him, was this actually happening? Or was this another dream? Carefully Wild leaned over and poked the other’s shoulder. It was solid and Legend moved slightly with motion.

“What are you doing?” He asked when Wild moved his finger away.

“Checking to see if I’m still dreaming” Wild said in all seriousness which made the other purse his lips.

“You know there’s another way to check” Legend said as he reared back and punched Wild on the arm. There was a shock of pain that made Wild gasp and grab his arm.

“I guess you’re not dreaming, you smart ass” Legend said smirking a bit at Wild’s discomfort. There was another few minutes of silence where Wild contemplated telling Legend about his dream, but he was uncertain of how the other would react and in any case he really didn’t want to relive the nightmare right then.

“So are you alright, or do I have to keep sitting here?” Legend finally said trying to sound tough but he heard the caring in his voice.

“I think I’m alright, thank you Legend” Wild said and gave a slightly forced smile. Legend nodded and stood.

“Get some rest, You look like shit and watch is going to rotate soon.” Legend huffed and walked quietly away. Leaving Wild to his thoughts and a worrying tug of wrongness pulling at the corner of his mind.


End file.
